Kureno's Struggle
by xakito-sohmax
Summary: This is for people who have read to at least the sixteenth book. If you didn't, but want to read it anyway, feel free to do so. Previously in Fruits Basket Momiji has just given Kureno a DVD of the school play, Cinderella with the request of Tohru. Tohru
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Kureno

Kureno Sohma fingered the DVD that Momiji had given him a short while ago, telling him that it was a present from Tohru Honda.

He paused for a moment, then inserted the DVD into the CD/DVD ROM Drive of his computer, pulling out earphones from his desk drawers. He plugged the earphones into the computer just as the play started,just in case Akito decided to come by. After all, Momiji had written, "Watch it alone," on the disc. And almost anything that had to do with Tohru Honda seemed to drive Akito into a bad mood. Or worse.

As he was thinking this, he pressed play.

'Cinderella?' he thought as he watched through the beginning of the tape, 'Why in the world….' He was about to stop the DVD, when the screaming voice of Uotani Arisa almost made him fall off his chair.

'Arisa…' thought as he heard Uotani's words. ' "Come meet me, you idiot!" '

She looked so sad… angry, but sad. TOO sad. His first impulse was to think that Arisa was a good actress. He shook his head and replayed the segment again.

It took him a moment to guess why Momiji had given this to him. She was talking to him. She had taken the moment of the school play to yell at Kureno, even when she knew that there was almost zero possibility of him seeing this play. Was that how much she loved him?

Suddenly, he wanted to be there for her. He wanted to wrap his arms around her. Apologize to her for the sorrow he had caused her. But a little, tiny voice inside him held him back from leaping out of his seat and rushing towards the school Tohru Honda went to.

'What about Akito?' it said. 'What if…'

Akito would certainly come looking for him. And when, not _if_, he found him with Arisa… No. He couldn't do it. He couldn't risk it.

He sighed then looked up at the computer screen once more, and was surprised when he found the screen blank. He had been so deep in thought that he had failed to notice when the play had ended. He frowned, and then inserted the DVD back to the case. He put the case into the drawer along with the earphones.

He closed his eyes for a moment and came to a decision. There was nothing for him to do except wait. Otherwise, Akito would…

"Kureno-san, Hatori-san asked if you'd fetch him some medicine he recently ordered from the pharmacy." One of the maid's voices interrupted his thoughts.

"Understood," he said, trying to calm himself. Maybe the trip to the pharmacy would help him forget the DVD.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Akito

Akito walked down the ever so quiet hallway, getting more and more irritated along the way.

'Where the heck is Kureno?' he thought as he reached Kureno's office, only to see that Kureno wasn't in it.

He then remembered the book that he had accidentally left at his last visit.

'Since I'm already here..'

He scanned the tabletop and the bookshelf, searching for the book. But no matter how hard he searched. He couldn't find it. He scanned for it again. Nothing. Nothing except papers….papers…papers..

"DAMN PAPERS!" he yelled as he knocked the papers onto the ground.

He pulled out all the books, ripping out pages along the way. He then pushed the the bookshelf itself onto the ground on top of all the books. He pushed the table to the ground too. The computer shattered, but he wasn't satisfied. He ripped out the drawers, one by one…and saw the DVD that Kureno had looked at earlier.

By the little rabbit picture and the words, "Watch it alone", Akito was sure it was from Momiji. He paused at his destruction and picked the DVD.

"What in the.." he murmured as he took it to one of his private quarters, and turned on the TV.

When Kureno arrived at his office, he was shocked to see several maids at work, arranging the furniture, throwing away the computer, etc.

"What happened…" but he knew the answer before he even opened his mouth. Akito.

He helped the maids rearrange everything, and by the time they got done, the sun had long ago gone from the sky.

Then one of the maids spoke, "Akito-san…he…wants to talk to you."

Kureno looked into the eyes of the maid long enough to see the fear in her eyes. Great fear. He rushed out the door, wondering what had scared her so much.


End file.
